Numbers games are well known in the art. Essentially a numbers game consists of a player selecting one or more numbers from a closed set and placing a wager. The house randomly selects a set of numbers and, if the player's selection matches the house's selection, the player is rewarded.
The most well known numbers game is “racehorse keno,” referred to in casinos as merely “keno.” Keno uses an eighty number game set, typically the numbers one through eighty. A keno ticket includes a matrix with the eighty numbers of the game set and the player designates a selection set by marking the numbers of the player's selection set on the keno ticket. Keno tickets may be in paper and/or electronic form. Paper tickets may be punched, daubed, or otherwise marked to identify the player's selection set. Alternatively, a keno machine may include a display on which a keno ticket is displayed. The player may use a touch-screen, pointer, mouse, button panel, keyboard or keypad, or other input device to input the player's selection set. The size of the selection set may be decided by the player, although the potential payouts may relate to the size of the selection set and the number of “catches,” i.e. matches between the player's selection set and a randomly selected outcome set.
An outcome set is selected from the game set and compared to the player's selection set. In a typical keno game, the outcome set includes twenty numbers randomly selected from the eighty numbers on a keno board. A number within the player's selection set is “caught” if the number matches a number within the outcome set. For example, if the player's selection set includes the five numbers 3, 5, 10, 22, and 73, and the outcome set includes the twenty numbers 1, 5, 8, 13, 15, 19, 22 26, 27, 33, 35, 40, 49, 53, 54, 58, 65, 70, 73, and 78, the player has caught the numbers 5, 22, and 73 since those numbers appear in both the player's selection set and the randomly selected outcome set. The selection set and the caught numbers determine which, if any, of the player's wagers are rewarded.
In conventional keno, players may wager any amount on a keno ticket. Wagers in keno can be generally divided into two groups, spot and way. Spot wagers consist merely of the player selecting individual numbers, or spots, on a keno ticket. If a player catches a predetermined number of spots, the player is rewarded. For example, on a ten-spot keno ticket, the player selects and marks ten numbers. A reward is typically issued if the player catches five or more spots. Typically, the reward increases with the number of spots the player catches. For example, if the player catches five spots, the player may receive his wager back; if the player catches ten spots, the player may be paid at ten thousand to one.
Way wagers consist of a player selecting groups of numbers, or ways, on a keno ticket. If a player catches a predetermined number of spots, the player is rewarded. Unlike spot wagers, however, the reward in a way wager depends on how the spots the player catches are distributed. For example, on a hi-low way keno ticket, the player selects and marks three groups of four numbers. If a player catches five or more spots, the player is rewarded. However, the size of the reward depends on the distribution of the spots. For example, if the spots are distributed with two in one way, two in another way, and one in yet another way (2-2-1), the player's wager is returned. Alternatively, if the spots are distributed 3-1-1, the player may be paid at 1.2:1; if the spots are distributed 4-1, the player may be rewarded at 1.4:1. Generally, way wagers are not offered in keno games conducted at an electronic gaming machine.
One known improvement to electronic keno is the designation of bonus numbers. For example, certain numbers on the keno board (whether or not selected by a player) may be designated as bonus numbers. If a bonus number is caught, a bonus payout or other bonus feature is conducted.